Those You Care About
by SonjaTaylor
Summary: Christmas rolls around on Destiny Island, and Riku and Kairi are busily decorating for a holiday party, but Sora is distracted. He has had a dream about a lonely, black-haired girl, and wonders who she is. His troubles get worse when he realizes that he hasn't gotten a gift for Kairi yet. But finally meeting the black-haired girl changes his life forever.


Those You Care About

Darkness.

"I'm so afraid…"

She felt her way through nothingness, her dark coat hiding her.

"But, I know I did the right thing…"

She stumbled out onto a night shore-a forgotten world. Dark cliffs and rocks dotted the landscape, lit by a pale blue moon. She collapsed against one of the rocks.

"I gave up my life…"

She blinked away a tear.

"…for you, Roxas….Sora."

* * *

"_Well, what do you want to do?"_

_She could not look at Axel. She knew he was smiling, but did he really care?_

"_I want…"_

_She dropped her gaze, blocking out the setting sun._

"_I want to be with you two."_

_Roxas, sitting on the tree beside her, put his hand over hers, folded on her lap._

"_Then come back with us."_

_It sounded so welcoming. It was just what she wanted._

"_I can't…"_

_That wasn't what she wanted to say. Roxas pulled his hand back and Axel looked at her questioningly._

"_Not the way I am now. But…" She lifted her gaze to catch the colorful rays of sun glinting over the water. "What would it take for me to be like you?"_

* * *

"To be like…me?"

Sora brushed a hand over his eyes to block out the morning sun above him.

"I'll admit, I've been jealous of you before…but not your sleeping habits."

Sora sat up with a start and whirled to see Riku standing on the pier behind him, a bundle of greenery in his hands. Sora looked at all the banners and wreaths laid out on the ground around him.

"You haven't changed," Riku smirked. "Always sleeping when there's work to do."

He turned his back and Sora scrambled to his feet, grabbing a string of lights to prove his sincerity. "I don't know what came over me. I just felt so tired that I had to lie down for a minute…"

Riku tossed him a string of garland. "Well, there's a lot to get ready before everyone arrives for the Christmas party."

Sora let his gaze rove over his childhood island. The wooden forts were glistening with lights, and the palm trees were strung with ornaments. But, there was still more to do…

He rubbed a hand over his eyes. "Leon and the gang are coming, aren't they? And Donald, Goofy, and the King. Oh, a-and…Axel?"

Riku eyed him. "Problem?"

Sora momentarily got another glimpse of his dream with Axel, Roxas, and some black-haired girl who looked like Kairi. "Uh. No." He passed his friend on the pier. "I'm just a little drowsy still."

"You haven't got a gift for_ her _yet, have you?"

Sora hesitated and looked over his shoulder. He could still only see the black-haired girl in his dreams. "You mean Kairi?"

Riku shrugged his sweater-covered shoulders. "Who else? I hope you haven't forgotten tomorrow's Christmas."

"F-forgotten?"

Riku brushed passed him, tangling him in garland. "You really are hopeless."

Sora hurried after him as Riku started decorating one of the forts. "Christmas came upon me too quickly. I don't know what to get her!"

"Simple." Riku snapped a star-shaped leaf off of the garland. "Give her a paopu fruit."

With a blank expression, Sora watched the leaf fall.

"Come on," His friend laughed. "you've been wanting to do it for years."

Sora snatched up the leaf and twirled it in his fingers distractively. "Well, yah, but…"

Riku hopped down from his ladder and put an arm around Sora's shoulders, turning him in the direction of a bent tree with fruit hanging from it.

"Just go take a look. You're not much help to me if you're unfocused."

He gave Sora a friendly shove towards the tree. Sora smiled nervously as he set his bundle of decorations down. "Right. Nothing wrong with just taking a look."

That short trip across the suspended bridge never felt so long. Sora cautiously approached the fruit tree. Winter chills ran down his spine, and he hugged his arms to himself. The yellow star-shaped paopu fruits hung from this solitary tree on the island. He stared at them longingly, but…

"If I shared one of these fruits with Kairi, our destinies would be entwined forever." He put his hand to the tree and hoisted himself up. "Well, I guess they kind of already are…"

Balancing on the tree, he reached for one of the fruits. His world spun for a second. The tree was suspended over the water below, the waves crashing against the land. Heights never did this to him.

"_I want to be with you two."_

That mysterious girl's voice echoed in his head, sounding so real. In his dream, she had been sitting here with her friends.

Sora's world blurred. Waving his arms for balance, he snatched one of the paopu fruits off the tree before plummeting towards the water below. He shut his eyes as he crashed through the waves. He tried to swim back to the surface, but his body weighed him down heavily. He clutched the fruit to himself and fought through the waves, but the current pulled at his ankles, dragging him down.

Bubbles of fear escaped his mouth when he realized he couldn't make it to the surface. Darkness flooded his vision, and he was powerless to stop his body from sinking to the depths below.

* * *

Sora first heard the familiar sound of waves as he gained consciousness. He then became aware of the sand at his back. He sat up groggily, putting a hand to his head. "Did I…fall asleep again?"

He looked at his surroundings, expecting to see the familiar sights of the blue waves, the palm trees, the bright sun, and even Riku or Kairi. But this was different. Dark cliffs rose around him and the blackish water, illuminated by an eerie moon.

Sora got to his feet with a jump.

_The Dark Margin!_

He had been here once before with Riku after they had defeated Xemnas.

"Sora?"

It was a girl's voice. Gentle, but scared.

He turned to see a familiar person-the black haired girl from his dream.

"Who are you?" He asked.

She moved to put her black hood up and turn away, but he caught her hand. "Please, don't run away. I've only met you in my dreams, but…I'd still like to get to know you."

She fisted her free hand, but kept her gaze down. "I'm…not real."

He shook his head. "I don't believe that!"

"I'm nothing but memories…" She looked at the fruit still in Sora's grasp. "…memories formed from your love of that girl you're always with."

She snapped out of his grasp and ran from him.

"Wait!" Sora struggled through the sand after her, but she was as light as a phantom.

"_Xion_!"

The voice was hardly his own, but the word came out of his lips.

She halted and looked back at him. Sora rubbed his throat. "Xion? That's your name, isn't it?"

She put her hands together nervously. "Why are you here?"

He stepped closer to her. "Perhaps I should ask you that first."

"I told you. I'm nothing but memories…inside of you. I shouldn't even exist. That's why _I'm _here."

Sora held a hand out to her. "Then, you need to come with me back to my island. Tomorrow's Christmas, and I don't want you to spend it here alone…"

She pulled back. "I can't…"

He dropped his hand in exasperation. "But, don't you want to leave this place? Don't you want to see Axel?"

"Axel?" She jerked her head up.

"That's right. He's come back, and he's a keyblade wielder now."

Xion sat back against one of the large rocks. "If only I could go…"

"Well, if you can't…" He leaned up against the rock beside her, "I'll just spend Christmas here with you."

"But," She looked again at the fruit in his hand, "aren't you giving that to that girl?"

His cheeks flushed. "Well, yah, sort of…But, I'm a little hesitant about sharing it with Kairi anyway."

Xion turned her gaze across the dreary waves. "If _I_ could be with Roxas and Axel, I'd eat ice-cream with them. I think the greatest gift you can have is to be with those you care about."

_She's right…_

"Xion," He met her eyes, "Roxas is inside of me, and you said that you're inside of me too. Axel is coming to my island, so when I go back, you'll sort of all be together."

Her smile was weak. "I guess…"

"Here." He pulled something off his neck and held it out to her. She looked at it unsurely.

"But, that's your necklace. I can't-"

"Please, Xion." He took her hand and placed the crown-shaped necklace in her palm.

Tears were welling to her eyes. "What's this for?"

"It's a promise, and well…a Christmas gift."

He released her hand, and she lifted the necklace face-level. "A promise?"

Sora nodded and pulled a good-luck charm out of his pocket. "Kairi gave me this a long time ago, but she told me to give it back to her when I didn't need it anymore. It was a promise that we would meet each other again."

"So…" Xion clipped the necklace behind her neck. "This is a promise that we'll meet again?"

"Sort of," He smiled. "It's a promise you'll be with those you care about."

* * *

"Sora, there you are!"

When Sora opened his eyes, he was back on Destiny Islands. His body was half in and out of the water. Sunset hues were painted across the sky. But that was not all.

Red hair.

"Kairi!" He sat up quickly, shoving the paopu fruit into his jacket.

She looked at his clothes. "You're soaked. It's too cold to sleep so close to the water."

"Yah…_right_."

_I wasn't sleeping…_

He got to his feet and noticed that the island was lit with Christmas lights. Garland, candy canes, and ornaments were strung from tree and tree. Riku had finished it all by himself…and had done a wonderful job.

Kairi extended her hand to him. "Here. You must have dropped this."

He held out his hand and she dropped the item into it.

It was his crown necklace.  
He looked up to meet her blue eyes, and for a moment, he saw another face in hers-Xion's.

Unable to hide a smile, he looked down the shore to where several shadows congregated around a fire pit. He could hear their chattering as they toasted marshmallows. He tried to locate the tall figure of Axel.

"Is everyone here?"

"Except you, sleepyhead! Come on."

She grabbed his hand and began to drag him down the shore.

"Kairi, wait…"

She slid to a stop in the sand.

Sora tried not to blush as she stared questioningly at him.

"I wanted to give you this. I…" He reached into his jacket and pulled out the paopu fruit.

"Merry Christmas."


End file.
